Spice and Wolf - Lucky's Review
I once watched an anime movie written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was called Kiki's Delivery Service. I don't remember much about it, there was a store of some sort and Kiki worked there while trying to learn witchcraft. Or something like that. It was sort of a merchant anime. What I do remember is that to this date it's the most boring anime I've ever watched (no offense to Miyazaki), so you can imagine that Spice and Wolf didn't exactly draw my interest when I first heard about it (it was called a merchant anime). But I was a victim of marketing. After I had heard how good this was for quite some time I decided to give these kinds of anime their one final chance. Like I said, the serie is a merchant anime, about a travelling merchant called Kraft Lawrence who happens to run into a wolf deity called Horo (or Holo as to the Japanese there's no difference between ro and lo). Through a deal Horo tags along with him to travel back to her homeland and promised to share her wisdom (she is Horo, the sage wolf after all) with Kraft to help him make some money along the way. Horo herself is in human form, though even in this form she has a tail, which she is really proud of, and wolf-like ears. So far there has been two seasons and both of them consist of 12 episodes + one OVA episode (in season one it's episode 7 and in season two it's episode 00). The anime is based on the light novel serie (there's also a manga adaptation of the light novels), which is still ongoing. Season three is possible as all of the light novels weren't covered in the first two seasons. On the other hand the second seasons finished a bit over a year ago (24th September, 2009) and we've had no news about the third season. Anyway, back to the serie itself. Personally I enjoyed Spice and Wolf very much, I'd say that it's among the top-3 anime series that I've watched this year, along with Needless and Fate/stay night. Even in my all time top series -list it would place well. Now, usually in these reviews the writer tries to tell the readers things like what was good in the serie or what didn't quite work. What makes Spice and Wolf so great then? Nothing. And that's the truth. Yet it is so unbelievably great serie that I had to watch the second season in old school anime marathon, and I haven't done those for quite some time. I just can't comprehend what is so good in Spice and Wolf. I often hear that series, movies or games are missing "that something". Well then, all those missing "some things" must be in this serie, because, without a doubt Spice and Wolf has that thing that sucks you in and doesn't let you out. For example, there is this scene where no one is in any danger, but rarely have I been so worried about any character's fate in an anime as I was during that scene. Partly it might have been because this serie is so different from what I usually watch. In other series it's quite easy to tell most of the time when a character is in a life threatening situation or how the scene will work out. But this time it was all different, there were so many possible outcomes that I could think of, and only few of them were outcomes that would've made me happy. At some points I even caught myself talking to the characters (telling them what to do) which is always a sign for a good serie. In a way the opening theme of season one sums this serie the best (Tabi no Tochū by Natsumi Kiyoura). It's not in any way a song that would in a normal situation stick to your head - in my case I can easily say that had I not seen this serie it would not be in my playlist - but like the serie you just listen it time after time. But if we try to turn this into a regular review I'd have to say that Spice and Wolf has strong characters (especially the relationship between Kraft and Horo is really interesting to follow), heartwarming story, good humour and surprisingly big amount of tension, which is not most of the time built in traditional ways. Even after all this I'll have to note that Spice and wolf was not a "perfect" serie for me. I'd rate it to 4/5 (second season perhaps 4,5/5), but with really strong four stars and extra prizes like "Lucky seal of quality". You might wonder why to take away that one star then. The reason is the very same as why it works so well, I don't know. Somehow I feel that it could have been even better, but at the same time I don't know how it could have been better. Who to recommend Spice and Wolf then? One might think that this wouldn't be a serie for people who mainly watch action series, but that's where you're wrong, as I am one of those people. I'd say this is the one serie that is for all. I'd even go as far as saying that this could work for people who normally don't watch anime at all. Of course no serie is able to please every single person, but I dare you to take the risk and watch this. In the worst situation you'll lose a few hours, but in the best situation you'll get to enjoy that heartwarming story and join the rest of us who can't tell just what is so good about Spice and Wolf. Or perhaps you are the person who can finally tell us just what it is? And what better way to finish this review than to have a word of wisdom from the sage wolf herself: "All males are foolish, green-eyed monsters, and all females are foolish enough to be happy about it. Everybody is a fool." - Horo Category:Review Category:Lucky